A novel that touches all of our humanity. The saga begins with Wilhelm's mysterious prophetic dream, one with deep ironic symbolism and a panoramic meaning that unfolds for him as the years pass by.
Four brothers of German ancestry are trapped in a provincial Russian town just before the Bolshevik Revolution. They are separated and forced to witness the most climatic events of the early twentieth century. Two of the brothers emigrate to the United States and travel the railways of the Midwest. They reflect upon the similarities and differences of the people and landscapes of the American prairie and the vast Russian steppes. Look for the Pawnee Indian who is ironically, yet accurately, portrayed as a distrusted immigrant on his own ancestor's soil.
The effective use of language, dialogue, and imagery keep the story flowing. One of the most difficult challenges other authors experience is trying to incorporate historical narrative within the framework of a storyline. BJ Lee keeps the reader informed as to what the characters encounter in their travels as well as what the "big picture" is in relation to world events.
Conrad is a man without a country, trapped in the midst of a planet in chaos. He struggles to keep his center. Enslaved by a band of roaming nomads, his destiny is to one day escape and return to his Russian lover Katerina in Petrograd at the peak of the Russian Revolution. They devise a plan, with the assistance of a local radical poet and revolutionary, to rescue his youngest brother, Jacob, from a gulag in Siberia.
The ending is amazing. A fantastic conclusion to a meaningful epic of global conflict and simple family devotion.
